protest | The 35mm Project

Following on from my previous post Kodak T-MAX 400 I decided to use the Fuji Superia X-TRA 400 whilst at the May Day March as some of the banners etc were fairly colourful, it was also to see how i got along with colour for a change.

Slower ISO than the Portra yet it handled well with the speed that i demanded on the day, interestingly the Portra 800 grain qualities far exceed that of the Superia (in my opinion). The tonal range and colours on the Superia are satisfactory but not fantastic, from this shoot i have realised that the consumer grade film is a good choice for point and shoot photography however didn’t really cut it on the final outcome for quality.

When i shoot with digital i obviously pay attention to colour, especially with the street style work i do or when i cover London Fashion Week however i noticed shooting the Superia that i was specifically looking for colour so as not to waste frames!

A couple of days after the March i finished the rest of this film off wondering around China Town, Soho and Covent Garden. I used the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 and 24-70 f/2.8L Mk II for this film. It has been great using the zoom lens, especially when photographing wider shots in tighter spaces. I’d be interested to see how this film copes being pushed as the higher contrasts from pushing may give some interesting results in saturation.

Kodak T-Max 400

On May 1st London’s street’s fill with thousands of people that take part in the May Day March. London has been celebrating May Day since the 1880’s and this year I wanted to come along and take part too….by documenting it at least anyway!

I had finished University submitting my work early so that i could get to Trafalgar Square where the march finishes at 1pm (i figured this would be the busiest spot as they give speeches afterwards).

I was able to finish a roll of Fuji Superia 400 (will publish at a later date) by the time that the march arrived.

I haven’t used Kodak T-Max before but i love the results from this shoot, the negatives (other than the DP3200) are crystal clear when scanning. The photographs are super sharp along with contrasts and tonal range being pretty good. I’m a bit let down by the exposure of some of the photographs however thats a technical error on my part when metering as i gave the camera aperture priority (so i controlled aperture, camera controlled shutter) this was essentially a speed thing. I used my Sigma 50mm f/1.4 during this shoot, i would of preferred my 24-70 f/2.8L MkII lens for this type of photography however i didn’t have it on me at the time.

There were times where i was sitting on the max shutter speed. What i should of done is raise the aperture to compensate however i wanted some bokeh.

Currently im favouring the T-Max as my ‘go to’ film, its sharpness and fine grain at a speedy iso with great contrasts has won me over….for now! We’ll see how long this feeling lasts once i have finished the Delta 400.